The Beauty and… Jo Grant. And 11. And RTD.

• 20th April 2010 • Blog Post by Jonathan Capps •

I’m willing to put my neck on the line say this is definitely the weirdest New Who news you’re likely to hear this year. Just let that sink in for moment (unless, you know, you’ve read this days ago – we’re nothing if not devastatingly current.)

For a start, I still find it slightly strange that SJA even exists. I mean, in telly terms it’s very successful and acclaimed and all that but it still feels weird having this RTD spin-off still hanging around. Does Moffat have any creative control or is it entirely out of his hands? Are they going to make any effort at all to co-ordinate with one another? Of course, a lot of that is answered with this news, but it still feels a little off.However, given that SJA is establishing itself as the show where old characters can easily return (aside from the title character, we’ve had K9, Raxacoricofallapatorians, Judoon, Sontarans and The Brig) another old companion being brought back doesn’t seem all that surprising, but Jo Grant? Really? I’d sooner have Jamie. Or, if Ben Paddon’s schedule allows, Turlough. Maybe I’m being unfair to old Jo but she’s never struck me as someone people are crying out to be brought back, especially since Sarah Jane made her character looks positively antique by the time she came along.

Anyway, on top of all that, we’ve got the Eleventh Doctor making an appearance (!) and the whole shebang is going to be written by LA’s Russell T Davies (!!!) So, that’s RTD, not six months after he left Doctor Who writing for his successors Doctor for an episode of a spin-off that he still owns, all the while trying to get a US version fo Torchwood off the groun and, if rumours are true, a Doctor Who movie. It’s… just… weird, and I’m not sure I like it at all.

Jonathan Capps‘ name translates in the old Draconian tongue as “The Oncoming Storm”. Curiously enough, when spelled out backwards, it translates in Kaled as “Gobby Northerner Who Likes Sandwiches”.

16 Responses

Personally, I’m dribbling with anticipation at the thought of RTD writing for the Eleventh Doctor. And while I don’t generally watch SJA (not even in it’s new, somewhat bizarre, Wednesday evening slot on BBC3), I’ll tune in for this, like I did for The Wedding… (with David Tennant).

There was a naked Dalek in “Dalek”. S’why the Doctor Who series one box set was given a 12 certificate. No, really.

If there’s one thing I know about Katy Manning, it’s that she’s a Randy Old Woman (or, at least, an older woman who has no problems casually talking about Things Of A Randy Nature to a room full of convention-goers).

Whats not to like? It’s always good to see links to the old series so having Jo turn up will be great. And I’m looking forward to seeing how RTD writes for Matt Smith. Yes it seems a bit weird as it’s completely out of the blue and unexpected but it’s a nice treat. The only thing stranger would be if RTD actually came on board and wrote a new episode of Doctor Who for Moffat next series! Or if he later decided to bring back Mel in a similar vain to Jo…THATS when we get scared.

Sounds like a laugh. It amuses me no end at how Doctor Who fans, myself included, are busy drawing lines in the sand, “it’s the Moffat era now…WHO as we know it changes” and then bugger me – we get news like this! Can’t wait to see Sarah’s reaction to another one.

Has Mel appeared in any Doctor Who stuff since 1989? I don’t listen to the audios, but I’m pretty sure Langford hasn’t haunted any of the classic series DVDs so far. I guess we’ll realise when the Time and the Rani DVD comes out whether the BBC still have her telephone number.

It was a bit rubbish. The plot was barebones, and the Doctor didn’t even get any good lines in. (Also; I’m convinced that Jo Grant was renamed Jo Jones SOLELY so RTD could make that “Smith and Jones” reference. I loathe the man!)

I’m not going to mention 507, because I’m not going to mention 507.

And the whole bit with the memory machine felt uncomfortably like a riff on Moffat’s “remembrance” theme present throughout Series 5.

(Also; I’m convinced that Jo Grant was renamed Jo Jones SOLELY so RTD could make that “Smith and Jones” reference. I loathe the man

Yes. In 1973, a ten-year-old Russell T Davies wrote a letter to Malcolm Hulke, asking him if in Jo Grant’s final story, he could have her marry a man named Clifford Jones, so that in 37 years’ time he could perpetuate a minor running gag he had at the back of his mind.